Robosquirrels help with study of rattlesnakes

[ Watch the Video ] Researchers in California have developed robotic squirrels that are being deployed in rattlesnake country in order to learn more about the serpents' behavior and how the two species interact with one-another. According to Matthew Knight of CNN, the robots, which were built by a team of experts working out of the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), are able to replicate two moves typically displayed by their real-life counterparts when they come face-to-face with their primary predators: their tails heat up, and they make a flagging movement with them. The mechanical rodents were sent to San Jose, where Daily Mail reporter Rob Waugh said they will be tasked with getting bit by one of the rattlesnakes in the hopes that the project will help provide insight as to exactly why a squirrel's tail does heat up when confronted with these reptilian aggressors. The UC Davis researchers explained further in a Tuesday press release that the heating-up of the tail can be detected by the snake's